Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year at Mt. Baker. I am excited to have your student in my class and on our print publications staff, Mt. Baker Publications. Please take time to read this newsletter about class features and expectations, sign the attached form, and return it to school with your student. (This form is also available on the teacher page for Mr. Warring.) 

The year at a glance... 

Your student has chosen (and been selected by teacher recommendation) to represent Mt. Baker as a part of the Journalism 2-3 class this year, which is primarily focused on producing our award-winning school newspaper (The Canine Chronicle) and yearbook (Legacy). Our primary task in class is to produce the student publications with accuracy, integrity, and quality. 

Students will have the opportunity to publish their work in the newspaper and yearbook. The student newspaper received multiple awards at the state and national levels by WJEA and NSPA, which includes ranking THIRD NATIONALLY in 2017. In 2023, the newspaper and yearbook earned Emerald Awards as the best publications in Washington. Journalists will learn  the fundamentals of journalism and publish their writing, photos and designs. We will learn about the journalistic inner-workings of newspapers, yearbooks, magazines, television, and online news sources. I scaffold the journalistic process and create individualized assignments for our journalists that will challenge them. Newspaper will publish six editions, while the yearbook will publish in June after four major deadlines.

Grades are updated regularly for parents and students on Family Access, so you can track the success of your student. If you do not have access, please contact the Attendance Office to get started. My academic and behavioral expectations of your student are high. Meeting deadlines and reporting ethically are a crucial aspect of journalism. 

Please call or email if you have any questions or concerns. I believe that if parents, teachers, and students all work together as a team, we can give students the support and encouragement they need to grow and succeed. I am available between 10-11 during my planning or before or after school. 

The MBMS Journalism II-III class produced this open public forum student newspaper and yearbook with intent to ethically report student stories and events accurately, without bias. As an open public forum for students, all decisions made on content are made by students under the guidance of the advisor, with intent to uphold students’ First Amendment rights. 

The opinions presented in articles are provided to represent the views and perspectives of students and individuals in the student population, not necessarily the whole of the adviser, faculty, and/or administrators. Any material that would cause a disruption to the educational process like libel, invasion of privacy, and/or copyright infringement will not be published. 

All Mt. Baker Publications, The Canine Chronicle and MBMS Yearbook, have adopted the SPJ Code of Ethics: 

• Seek truth and report it.

• Minimize harm.

• Act independently.

• Be accurate and transparent.

The Canine Chronicle is produced using MARQ and Google Sites. The MBMS Yearbook is produced using Encore and Canva. Photographs not taken by students have been utilized through a fair-use Creative Commons license. School portraits are licensed through Dorian Photography.